I'm happy with an EU LCC, and won't be going anywhere else until my youngest has left school, which will put me firmly in my mid 40s.
For some of us, the chance to see our kids grow up whilst earning decent enough money is most important. I could join BA now (A320 rated etc etc), but the prospect of spending much more time away just doesn't appeal to me any more. I'm no longer single and in my 20s, I'm married (to another pilot with the same LCC), we're both in the LHS and we're both home every night. I personally don't want anything else.
Good on you, that's exactly my point!
You obviously joined at the right time, still got a decent contract working for a decent company, got upgraded, and are able to enjoy life close to family, friends and other loved ones, in a moderate climate and with a (fairly) transparent legal system.
However, IMHO it would be fair to acknowledge that also the low cost industry is not immune to the degradation of T&C's. Just compare LCC contracts from 10-15 years ago to those of today, and you can see a clear trend vector...downwards.
So again, why waste time in a region where it's >45C in the shade, where they treat people like slaves, where you as infidel always get the short end of the stick in legal matters and where you need to beg for an "exit visa" in order to leave the country? Especially if you only want to go there for the money in order to pay off a mortgage and then want to return to work in Europe? By the time you return home (5-10 years), European LCC will probably have degraded substantially further.
Why not join a
decent European LCC a.s.a.p. as in the long term those LCC T&C's also continue to spiral south, get a staff ('seniority') number, get a decent contract, try to get upgraded a.s.a.p, get the base where you and your family feels at home, live within your means, and take it from there? If one day it all goes t!ts up, the kids have grown up, the wife is still around (*), and/or you get the urge to earn some
extra cash as a DEC to pay for that summer house or convertible car just before retirement, then you can always try to go to the Middle East.
(*) what are the divorce rates in the Middle East?
